dht@druri.UUCP (Davis Tucker) (05/14/85)
Ahhh... the Neville Brothers. I'm an old fan of theirs, and I'm glad to see somebody getting turned on to them. Their *definitive* album is "Fiyo On The Bayou". Rush out and get it - now! "Neville-ization" is pretty good, but "Fiyo" is heads and tails. Such classics as "Meet De Boys On De Battlefront", "Hey Pocky-Way", and the title cut are red-hot incredible. My favorite is "Brother John Is Gone", a tribute to their original leader, Big Chief Jolly, sung in the classic New Orleans street-chant style - "If'n you don't like what the Big Chief say, jackamo fee all ay." So - a little history. The Nevilles started out a long time ago under the wing of Big Chief Jolly, the head of the Neville clan. The existing Nevilles are 2nd-gen. The early Neville sound is straight New Orleans street music. For a long time, the Nevilles performed as *two* acts - The Wild Tchoupitoulas, and the Neville Brothers. I think Aaron is the only one of the original Nevilles left - and by the way, they really are related. More history - back in the late 19th century, blacks weren't allowed to parade in Mardi Gras. It came to some black musicians and street dancers that *Indians* were allowed to parade, and since everybody knows that New Orleans is hopelessly intermixed, there started up black "tribes", whose raison d'etre was getting huge chant-bands together for Mardi Gras, all dressed up in feathers and wildly elaborate pseudo-indian costumes, parading down the streets of the Quarter singing chant-and-response type music, primarily of African origin (not much gospel, a fair amount of voodoo, a good bit of Yoruba). These tribes all still perform at certain times during Mardi Gras. The Wild Tchoupitoulas are one of them. The Nevilles really got their first break as the vocal section for the Meters, and quickly branched out, although they kept doing their schizophrenic shows until 1980. Every once in a while, they'll put the old indian costumes on. Big Chief Jolly died in 1979, I think - it was quite a blow to them all. They are almost the house band for the Riverboats (if you know NOLA, you know what I mean - if not, well...) and usually play the South and Southwest, with occasional trips to California, the East Coast, and Europe every few years. Most emphatically, they cannot be truly appreciated until you have seen them live. What is on vinyl, while great music, just doesn't hold a candle to a live Neville performance. Sigh... it's been a while since I've seen them... If you like the Neville Brothers and their New Orleans street-funk, there are some other Lousiana groups you ought to check out - I'm sure you'd dig them just as much. Clifton Chenier, The King Of Zydeco, is a definite must. Though many people confuse the two, Cajun is distinctly different from Creole, or New Orleans. Zydeco is a black Cajun dance music, which is primarily distinguished by two things - the lyrics are often in French (or what passes for it down there) and the primary instrument is the accordian. Most of the men and women who play it are roots musicians in the strictest sense - some of them don't even read (and I'm not talking about music charts), most of them are unschooled and often poor, but this is some of the happiest music to ever come out of America. It's just plain fun. Chenier is probably the founder of Zydeco, and one of the nicest men I've ever met, just plain good people, with a terrific sense of humor (a friend of mine used to play guitar for him - seems having a white guitar player in your band who can really chop it up is a real status symbol...). Unfortunately, Clifton is not long for this world, between his kidney problems (on dialysis twice a week) and his diabetes and his recent leg amputation. He can still wail, though - if you think root music is raw and unskilled, this man will change your mind - he is literally the Jeff Beck of the accordian. A jazz master in his own way. Other zydeco artists who stand out are Buckwheat Zydeco (The Crown Prince Of Zydeco), John Delafosse, and Queen Ida. Zydeco bands consist of an accordian, bass, electric guitar (1), drums, and washboard. That's usually it - no horn section, no percussion (with a washboard player who needs one?). Many zydeco tunes are instrumental. White Cajun dance music is very similar, but unfortunately, it's been downgraded for years by country music as sounding too "nigger". It's debatable how long it will continue to flourish - Doug Kershaw is the only person playing it who anybody's ever heard of - good as he is. White Cajun music is also in French, usually (the classic "Laissez le Bon Temps Roulet" for example), but has a different backbeat than its black counterpart. While many of these bands have an accordian player, and often a washboard player, the lead instrument is usually a fiddle player or two (or three). Almost none of these bands can be seen outside the Cajun area (Lake Charles to Lafayette to the Gulf - Baton Rouge is redneck cracker). And none of them has any records that I've ever heard of, even in New Orleans. There's still quite a lot of prejudice against La Cajun, white and black, probably summed up in the vast number of "Coonass" jokes that are to Lousiana what Aggie jokes are to Texas and Polish jokes are to Chicago. Therefore it seems that few of these musicians get the recognition they deserve, but what else is new. Joe Bob says check it out. Davis Tucker AT&T Information Systems Denver, CO
chb@telesis.UUCP (Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk) (05/21/85)
<Fear, hate, envy jealosy.....>
Yeah to David Turner for his good introduction to Louisana and New Orleans
music. I have been of the opinion lately that New Orleans turns out the
best musicians in these here U-nited States (Nevilles, Marsalises, Fats
Domino, Chenier Bros.....).
I would just like to make two additions to his list:
The Radiators are one of the hottest R&B bar bands that I have heard
since Big Twist and the Mellow Fellows passed through Boston awhile ago.
Total smoke.
Also, being an ethnic musician (PLEASE, NOT an ethnomusicologist!) I would
also have to recommend New Orleans brass bands. These bands were especially
renown for their work as the accompanists to the second lines, and feature
wailing jazz improvising over that great rockin' New Orleans beat. The
newest addition to this genre is the Dirty Dozens Brass Band, a bunch of
younger cats who have updated the tradition by adding Charlie Parker,
Duke Ellington, and Michael Jackson to the standard N.O. Brass Rep.
I saw these guys last year at the Newport Jazz Festival and they
blew the house down (Dick Sudhalter had one of his white trad. bands
that was positively rococco compared to the Dozens). They have
an album out mow on (I think) Rounder Records. If not, it is certainly
distributed by Rounder.
Of course, if you can find an old Meters record, buy it at all costs
(well, ALMOST all ;-) ). Especially noted is the "Fiyou on the Bayou"
album (yes the same song as mentioned by Mr. Turner - it was written
by A. Neville).
"Feets dont fail me now!"
Charlie Berg
Telesis Corp.
{allegra, decvax}!wanginst!ucadmus!telesis!chb